With this measure, the Regional Ministry continues to prioritise the creation of free places for children from 0 to 3 years of age.

The Anselm Turmeda and Son Pisà schools in Palma and the Joan Veny i Clar school in Campos will host, for the first time, six classes from 1 to 3 years of age

The announcement of the new places coincides with the opening today of the deadline for submitting applications to reserve places for 0-3-year-olds.

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102 new places in the first cycle of Infant Education in three CEIPs

The Department of Education and Universities continues with its commitment to expand the free educational offer from 0 to 3 years and, from the next school year, will implement courses of the first cycle of Early Childhood Education in three public centres in Mallorca.

The councillor Antoni Vera, accompanied by the director general of Educational Planning and Management, Catalina Ginart; by the director general of Early Childhood, Attention to Diversity and Educational Improvement, Neus Riera; by the headmistress of CEIP Anselm Turmeda, Laura de Haro, and the school’s secretary, Paula, presented the measure today at CEIP Anselm Turmeda in Palma, which will be one of the schools that will host a class for pupils aged 1 to 2 and another for pupils aged 2 to 3 from September onwards. Councillor Vera indicated that CEIP Son Pisà in Palma and CEIP Joan Veny i Clar in Campos will each have two classrooms for 2 to 3-year-olds. In total, the Regional Ministry will create 102 new places from September in these three centres, which have sufficient space. In total, six classrooms will be created.

Councillor Vera indicated that the Regional Ministry has been working since the very first minute to create new places for 0-3 year-olds to expand the educational offer in the first cycle of Infant Education, which has been free since last September in all courses.

With regard to the introduction of this cycle in public primary schools, Minister Vera made it very clear that it will be carried out gradually but firmly and always guaranteeing the needs of the children.

In this sense, the Conselleria de Educació i Universitats has already begun the process of adapting the spaces of the CEIPs Anselm Turmeda, Son Pisà and Joan Veny i Clar. This measure has been adopted to respond to the needs of families while respecting the pace of the students in the first cycle of Infant Education.

In terms of staffing, the Regional Ministry of Education and Universities will equip the centres with a Senior Technical Assistant in Early Childhood Education for each classroom of the first cycle of preschool education, as well as a teacher to carry out coordination tasks.

In addition, the Minister Vera recalled that the Ministry of Education and Universities is working to finalise the new Infrastructure Plan and pointed out that the primary schools that will be planned from now on in the Balearic Islands will incorporate the first cycle of nursery education (0 to 3 years).

The councillor made this announcement coinciding with the first day of the opening of the period during which families can apply for a place in a centre for their children from 0 to 3 years of age. As of today, the Conselleria d’Educació i Universitats has 12,030 places for children from 0 to 3 years old distributed among the 115 centres of the public network and the 99 centres of the complementary network, including the 102 that will be created in the three public centres.

It is important to note that the newly created places will not be available during the application process, which will be valid until May 3rd. They will have to be applied for after the deadline, which will begin on 4 May. In this sense, the councillor said that the 102 places available in the three CEIPs will be allocated to families who are on the waiting list or can be applied for after the deadline, i.e. once the list of those admitted to each centre has been published.

With this new measure, the Govern de les Illes Balears reaffirms its commitment to early childhood education and free early childhood education.